For many people that experience psychological problems there is a clear link to the lack of perceived control over their environment and events in their life. The feeling of lack of control is often caused or increased by stressful situations. How an individual responds to this stress is often referred to as the coping style.
Coping style may be accessed via a questionnaire. One of the more important axes to assess in the coping style is whether someone is passive or active, i.e. if someone—when put under stress—will try to interact more with their environment or will withdraw and become less interactive in an effort to relax and de-escalate.
It is well known that the coping style is reflected in the patient's interaction with his environment. Patients with an active coping style have the tendency to move around a lot, fidget or interact with objects without a specific purpose.
Knowing the coping style of a patient is important within the treatment of mental problems as the caregiver's method of interacting with the patient may be adjusted if the personality trait is known.
Accordingly, there is a need to determine the coping style of a patient and, therefore, the inventor of the present invention has devised the present invention.